"We came up with the idea for this series after Oprah Winfrey's successful webcasts last spring with Eckhart Tolle on his book 'A New Earth,'" said Coppel in a released statement, referring to another book that has drawn criticism from the conservative Christian community.
"The Web series contends that Jesus was not trying to start a new religion, nor was he aiming his teachings at some people and not others," Coppel added. "He was pointing the way for all of us to experience the awakening that he himself had experienced."
According to Chopra, there is not one Jesus, but three.
"First there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought," he explains in his book. "Next there is Jesus, the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. Then there is the "third Jesus," says Chopra, "the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name."
"He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment," the author contends. Craig-Purcell sees the series as especially appealing to those who consider themselves "spiritual more than religious" as well as "Christians with questions."
Her organization, however, and the several other Unity groups founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore have been criticized for a number of teachings that conflict with orthodox Christianity, including the belief in reincarnation and the denial of heaven and hell's existence.
